Local Wellesley senior studies self-esteem of Kenyan girls

Thursday

Nov 13, 2008 at 2:00 AM

In a decidedly upscale version of "what I did last semester," Katie Bunten-Wren of Eliot, Maine, discussed confronting scorpions, poisonous snakes and, more importantly, the plight of refugee Sudanese women, in a presentation of her research "Drawings of Dreams: The Power of Women's Education in Kakuma, Kenya," at the annual Tanner Conference at Wellesley College.

Jeanné McCartin

In a decidedly upscale version of "what I did last semester," Katie Bunten-Wren of Eliot, Maine, discussed confronting scorpions, poisonous snakes and, more importantly, the plight of refugee Sudanese women, in a presentation of her research "Drawings of Dreams: The Power of Women's Education in Kakuma, Kenya," at the annual Tanner Conference at Wellesley College.

Studying adolescent self-esteem wasn't Bunten-Wren's initial intent when the Wellesley senior headed to the three-month Kenyan program at the School for International Training. The psychology major's first two months were spent as planned, living with a "home stay" family, and taking courses in development in health and cultural studies. The last month was set aside for her research in the field, supported by the Windle Trust agency.

"You can go anywhere in Kenya. You're given a stipend and you do some kind of research in the field and write a paper as the capstone of the experience," she explains. She initially intended to focus on education and children.

The change came about "sort of oddly," adds Bunten-Wren. She bought a newspaper to read on the bus to ward off carsickness. In it was a story about a theater group from Kakuma, a large refugee camp. She was moved by the adolescent's first-person tales of life there.

"In the spectrum of Africa it is sizable. But it's not talked about a lot among the Kenyans. That sparked my interest," she says.

"I decided I was not challenging myself enough just researching a special education school in Nairobi. I was just playing it safe."

She headed to the school adviser that day "and sort of just came up with this idea."

Her interest was the self-perception of Southern Sudan teens that were born in and lived their entire 16 or 17 years in the camp's sub-standard living conditions.

"They'd never seen their home country. How does their perspective differ from the others who had lived in Southern Sudan?" she says. "I focused in on the Dinka — couldn't cover the scope of the whole camp."

Bunten-Wren used art for the bulk of her analysis. She tested the boys and girls separately. After an initial drawing of "whatever came to mind," she had them create three images: a picture of themselves with a few descriptive sentences; an ideal partner with a description; and, finally a tribesman, Dinka specifically.

There was a difference between boys and girls, males showing greater self-esteem. But the startling finding was between the girls in two different schools. Half lived within the camp and attended its primary schools. The others attended the Angelina Jolie Girls' Boarding School, located in the camp.

The latter had a "kindred spirit with Wellesley," which helped girls gain confidence as capable human beings, to see their own potential."

The difference demonstrated between the two groups was marked. The Jolie girls had a more positive view of self "drawing themselves bigger," and provided more positive descriptive terms. The Jolie girls thought of themselves as smart and pretty, they wanted to be doctors and leaders. The camp girls struggled with any description.

Even in mate choice the Jolie girls held partners to a higher standard. "Typically the boys had higher self-esteem than the girls. But the Jolie girls rivaled them."

"The great realization for me was the (Jolie) girls were charismatic ... really smart girls. I left feeling hopeful. ... THEN I met with head mistress."

All of the Jolie girls wanted to go to secondary school or college. But she was told few would actually attend. The fact was their attendance at the Jolie school promised a larger marriage dowry for the family. "It's hard to say no to that while you're in a refugee camp. But most (with few exceptions) would be married off after boarding school."

That revelation is what prompted Bunten-Wren to change her own course. "That was a clarifying moment that said ... this is what I'm supposed to be doing, so faced with it in the future, I can do something about it."

Bunten-Wren — who spent most of her childhood in the Dover and South Berwick, Maine, area — is now a peace and justice studies major. She hopes to head to graduate school for international development.

"I'm toying with where in that field I'd fit the best, to do the things I want to do and ... go out and help women get an education."

She plans on applying for grants, in hopes of returning to Africa to gain more experience.

"I'm kind of keeping my options open, but I'm pretty determined to go back to Africa. Hopefully East Africa. And hopefully Kenya," says Bunten-Wren. "I may not be able to go back to Kakuma and the Jolie school, but their story ... inspired me to dream big and go out in the world and help others."

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